JACKSONVILLE - About 3 p.m. Wednesday, the body of an alligator surfaced and police retrieved the carcass of the animal they believe had eaten a woman's dog Tuesday at the Mill Creek Green portion of Henderson Green, at Henderson Drive and River Street.

About 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials had fired the third and fatal shot into the alligator, they said.

Police said they were almost certain the shot struck the alligator as it floated in the creek beneath Gruber Bridge and Henderson Drive.

The woman was walking her dog Tuesday when the alligator soon after took the dog.

She was walking the dog about dusk, about the time alligators eat one of two daily meals.

Jon Shaw, district wildlife biologist with N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said there is no way to be 100 percent sure that the alligator they found is the one that attacked the dog; however, the one they found had intestines wrapped around its head and hanging from its mouth.

“We feel confident that it is dead,” said Jacksonville Police Capt. Randy Nordstrom.

Jacksonville Police Officer Roy Dorn fired the third shot, sending a spray of water around the volley and piercing the animal, which then sank, according to witnesses.